


Doctor's Note

by jortsbian



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Misunderstandings, No Angst, Rick Riordan doesn't have a clear timeline so neither do I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 07:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19848757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jortsbian/pseuds/jortsbian
Summary: "S-So, um…" Will said. "You don't need to say anything quite that dramatic, but is that a yes or a no?"Nico stared blankly at him. He didn't even know there had been a question involved in the note, much less what it was.-Nico has no idea what the note Will gave him is, but he is sure on one thing: he's determined to ask him out.





	Doctor's Note

**Author's Note:**

> i imagine will's handwriting looks something like this, which i absolutely cannot read. but if you'd like some entertainment, look up "doctor handwriting" and see what I mean https://surgeryattiffanys.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/doctors-handwriting.jpg
> 
> (the title made me very proud of myself i hope you laugh)

Nico's day was normal, up until it wasn't.

He woke up, left early enough to catch the tail end of breakfast, and poked at his eggs with his fork while gazing at the Apollo table. Coincidentally, of course. Definitely not because he had a giant crush on the head counselor and couldn't stop staring if he wanted to.

(Oh, who was he kidding? He was crushing hard on Will Solace, and he absolutely didn't want to stop staring.)

He and Will had grown close since the war, and had subsequently decided that meant they needed to spend every available second with each other. Once the rest of the campers had gotten used to 1) Nico actually attempting to stay around camp and 2) Will deciding they were now best friends, both which had come as a shock to everyone, they hadn't made a fuss about it. Now, no one was shocked to see that where one went, the other almost certainly followed.

Chiron called for the end of breakfast. Usually, that would mark the time when Nico would go do whatever his cabin was supposed to do that day before sneaking into the infirmary to talk to Will, but apparently that day wasn't quite usual. Instead of finding him later, probably during his mandatory flying lessons, Will ran up to Nico as he prepared to leave.

"Nico!" Will called, a sunny smile lighting up his face. "Hi!"

"Hey, Will." Nico offered him a small smile. "What's up?"

"I have something for you," Will said, though he seemed to lose some of his easy confidence. "In the infirmary. Would you come with me?"

Nico nodded. He wanted to press for information but Will had started looking anxious enough that he decided just to follow him quietly. He had no idea what Will could have in mind, but he didn't have half a mind to distrust him. Maybe it was pity for his obvious nerves, maybe it was because of the budding excitement he felt at the idea of Will giving him any sorry of gift, maybe it was just because he was head over heels and would probably follow Will back into Tartarus if he asked him to.

Soon enough, they approached the infirmary. Will paused to take a breath, grin nervously, and push open the door.

The infirmary was blissfully empty aside from Kayla, who was busy in the corner cutting bandages and cleaning their tools. Will approached a cupboard and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out—an envelope? He handed it to Nico, who carefully ripped it open and pulled out the card inside.

The front of the card was a plain red with a gold trim and the inside was covered top to bottom in Will's handwriting. Nico stared at it, trying to decipher the words. It was clear Will had put some thought into the note, but between his chicken scratch (seriously, was it mandatory for doctors to have terrible handwriting?) and Nico's dyslexia, it was impossible for him to make out any of it. After a few minutes of staring quizzically at it, Will cleared his throat.

"S-So, um…" Will said. He seemed to have found a spot on the floor that was incredibly captivating. He hadn’t lifted his gaze since he handed Nico the note in the first place. "You don't need to say anything quite that dramatic, but is that a yes or a no?"

Nico stared blankly at him. He didn't even know there had been a question involved, much less what it was.

"I mean, it's okay if you say no. I won't mind. But, uh, I'd really prefer if you said yes," Will continued. The spot on the floor must've been really interesting. Also, was it Nico's imagination, or was Will blushing?

"Oh. I, uh…" Nico looked around the infirmary for any sort of clue as to what the note could say. Eventually, he made eye contact with Kayla and proceeded to attempt to convey all of his struggling with a shrug and a mouthed _"I don't know"_. She rolled her eyes and nodded, though she seemed to be holding back a laugh. "Yes…?"

Will's head shot up. 

"Really?" he asked, beaming at Nico, and wow, he needed to settle down before his heart beat out of his chest. Whatever it was he'd agreed to, he was sure it would be fine if it made Will smile like that. 

"Yeah, sure. Of course." _I'd agree to whatever you asked,_ he thought, _even if I have no idea what it is._

Will looked absolutely ecstatic, and Nico was absolutely infatuated with him, and _gods, was Will about to cry?_ But as soon as he noticed, Will was shooing him out of the infirmary and saying something about ‘too much work for distractions’ and ‘definitely seeing each other later’ while trying to subtly scrub his face. 

As Nico walked toward the rest of camp, he tried again to decipher the note to no avail. He sighed to himself and tucked it into his jacket pocket. Whatever it was, it obviously meant a lot to Will, which was enough for him to want to keep it safe. He made a mental note to try to decipher it later and headed toward the pegasus stables.

The campfire was hardly Nico's favorite part of the day. A bunch of kids singing badly and giving him weird looks when he showed up? He'd pass, thanks. But Will always insisted he show up, so night after night, his presence at the campfire became more and more commonplace. 

(Oddly enough, it almost seemed like people stopped jumping at his presence the more he showed up. He chalked that up to being around Will, though, and tried not to let himself hope that maybe, just maybe, people weren't as scared of him as he thought.)

As he headed toward the campfire, he caught Will's eye. Will's face lit up, and he gestured Nico over. Nico bit back a smile and made his way to him.

The campfire started as usual. There was singing (which Nico did not join, thank you very much), there was laughing (which Nico may have joined but would be loathe to admit), and Will was comfortably warm next to him (a fact which Nico enjoyed very much). Will practically glowed in the firelight as he laughed and sang, and every few minutes he glanced over at Nico and grinned. 

Nico hadn't noticed he'd been dozing off until he startled awake. He stopped himself from leaping to his feet and instead scanned the area. No one else seemed to be anxious; additionally, the only person who had noticed he'd been sleeping at all was Will, who was smiling sheepishly at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," Will whispered, and suddenly Nico realized why he'd woken up in the first place. Will's fingers had threaded through his own, and as he stared, Will gave his hand a squeeze. "This okay?"

Nico nodded, and forced himself to smile. Will's hand was warm, and the point where their skin touched it felt like he was burning in the best of ways. Eventually, he allowed himself to relax and squeezed Will's hand in return. Will beamed, and that was the end of it.

Or at least, he thought that was the end. Over the course of the next week, Will became increasingly affectionate. Sure, it wasn't like he'd ever avoided physical contact, because Will was just the type of person to always have a hand on somebody, but he was reaching out to Nico in ways he hadn't done before. Things like holding hands and hugging were becoming more and more commonplace. 

(Once, Will had kissed his cheek as he said goodbye. When Jason found him ten minutes later, still staring open-mouthed at the door with his hand on his cheek, all he could do was laugh.)

All that time, he kept the note with him. He still hadn't made any progress toward decoding it, but he knew it must have some sort of answers. And, if nothing else, it was a gift Will had given him and it made him almost giddy. Every time his hand brushed it, he couldn't help but smile, which made it extremely difficult to keep up his scary loner facade.

Finally, he made up his mind. After a night of peaceful self-evaluation—a task which consisted of screaming into his pillow, getting angry at Will, getting angry at himself, feeling absolutely miserable, and then finally allowing himself to feel almost hopeful—he made up his mind. He'd been called dense before, but he wasn't stupid. He could pick up on the signals. Not even his extremely powerful self-loathing could hide that Will was definitely flirting with him, even though he definitely tried to convince himself otherwise. And so, the only reasonable conclusion he could reach was that he should ask him out.

The thought terrified him, but he decided to talk to Will the next day after the campfire. That way, if it went sideways, he had the entire night to mourn and convince himself not to run away to Camp Jupiter. If it went fine, well. He wasn't sure what next, but he'd probably need the time to cope, anyways.

The next day proceeded as usual. He woke up, glared at the sun, grudgingly ate breakfast, and headed to the archery range because the Hades and Apollo cabins happened to have that together that day. It was perfectly normal, but Nico couldn't help the anxiety building in his gut. Still, he had made up his mind and he was going to stick to it. 

Soon enough, the day had ended and the campfire began. Instead of his usual seat next to Will, Nico elected to sit next to Jason and Piper. When Will entered, his face fell for a moment, but he smiled at Nico anyways when he gave a little wave.

Jason grinned at him.

"Hey, Nico! I'm surprised you're sitting over here today. Don't you usually sit with Will?" Jason greeted. At Nico's sullen expression, his face darkened. "Did something happen? If he did anything, I can—"

"No," Nico responded. "I'm just… preparing myself. It's fine."

"Preparing yourself for what?" Piper asked, leaning over to see Nico. "Hi, by the way."

Nico's frown deepened. 

"You're not thinking of doing anything bad, are you? I know you don't think you have friends here, but you do. You should take care of yourself," Jason scolded. Nico rolled his eyes.

"No, Jason, I'm not running away. It's just…" He took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I was planning on asking Will out after this."

Watching Jason register that was like watching a kid unwrap a present. At first, he seemed almost confused, and then he registered what Nico had said and lit up. He reached over and tousled Nico's hair, ignoring Nico's squirming attempts to pull away.

"That's great, Nico! We're rooting for you!" Piper said with a reassuring smile.

Jason let him go and pulled back to grin at him. He seemed so happy that it almost made Nico uncomfortable, which he mentally chided himself for. _They're just being friendly,_ he thought. _No need to get defensive._

"Seriously, though," Jason began, smile becoming a little more subdued, "I'm really proud of you. You've come really far."

Nico gave him a little smile which probably looked more like a grimace. He didn't say anything, but he bumped his knee against Jason's, hoping he'd understand. They fell quiet, and Nico focused his attention on the singing, the roaring of the fire, and what he was about to do.

After the campfire, Nico approached Will and pulled him away from his cabin.

"Hey, can we talk quick? Alone?" he asked. He mentally chided himself on his less than smooth start, but Will nodded and gestured for his cabin to continue without him. They walked together quietly to the front of the Hades cabin, where Nico stopped. Before he could speak, Will nudged him.

"So, you abandoned our tradition for Jason earlier? I'm hurt." Will pouted at him, but there was a sparkle in his eye that let Nico know he was joking. Nico rolled his eyes.

"No, idiot. I just wanted to talk to him about something. Besides, I thought you wanted me to socialize more. Something about making friends being healthy or whatever."

Will laughed. Gods, Nico could get drunk on that sound.

"Yeah, of course. I'm glad you are." Will grinned at him. After a beat of silence, he nudged Nico's foot with his own. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

He took a breath. Gods, this was hard. Nico was tempted to back out entirely, except for the expectant look on Will's face and the incessant urge to grab his hand and never let him go. After a moment to collect himself, he spoke.

"So, um, I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime. Like a date."

Will watched him with furrowed brows. 

"Like… a date? Just one?" he asked, still staring at Nico.

"No—I mean, yes, but I meant it more in a boyfriend way." Nico noticed an interesting crack on the ground. It looked like someone had dropped something heavy on it. Huh. 

Will still hadn't replied. A quick glance showed he was still looking at Nico with the same confused expression, as if he had started speaking gibberish and Will hadn't figured out how to translate it yet. Nico huffed.

"If you don't want to, that's fine, I guess. I thought that because of the hand-holding and stuff—but whatever. Forget I said anything." Nico turned to walk inside, which seemed to snap Will out of his stupor. He pulled Nico's shoulder back towards him.

"No! I mean, yes, I'd love to go out with you, I was just confused. Because, uh, I thought we were already dating?"

_What._

"What?"

"I mean, I'm not sure how the note could be misunderstood, but I guess it could've been unclear. But I thought you saying yes meant you understood? I guess not, though…"

 _The note._ As Will continued to ramble, he slowly began to understand. He dug around in his jacket pockets for a moment before he found the card and pulled it out.

"Is that what this is?" The card had creased from his pocket, but it was still clear what it was. "Did you—I mean, did you ask me out in this?"

"I—Yes, I did—Did you not read it?" Will looked confused again, which wasn't great, but he also looked like he was holding back a laugh. That jerk.

"I'm not sure if you knew this," Nico said, biting back his embarrassment, "but your handwriting is terrible."

Will's eyes widened and then he snorted, breaking down into a fit of giggles. Nico crossed his arms over his chest. He knew he was sulking, but he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t _his_ fault the gods had decided to make his life as difficult as possible. 

"Sorry, sorry, I should've realized,” Will said, holding up a hand to placate him. “Yeah, I forgot how awful my writing is. Did you know even Chiron struggles to read my reports? He makes me rewrite them half the time so he knows what I’m saying. But, uh. Yes? I said a bunch about my feelings and stuff and, wow, this is way harder to do in person.” 

Will cleared his throat. Nico shuffled awkwardly. This was absolutely _not_ how he had envisioned this going. Still, it hadn’t necessarily gone badly, so in a move that was scarier than leading an army of the undead, he reached out and took Will’s hand. Will grinned sheepishly at him, and Nico couldn’t help but snort. Soon, they were both laughing, entertained by their own errors. Finally, Will ran a hand down his face (the one that wasn’t holding Nico’s still, which was in fact very warm and made Nico feel like he was flying, but in a good way and not a stupid wind god way) and sighed. 

“I should probably head to my cabin. The harpies will be out soon and I still have to tell my siblings that I finally gathered the courage to ask you out.”

Nico balked.

“You asked _me_ out? I asked you out!”

“I asked you out first. It’s not my fault you didn’t know it.”

“Yes, it is! And besides, that doesn’t count. We’re not dating if I don’t know we’re dating.”

“Irrelevant,” Will said, sticking up his nose and grinning smugly. Nico rolled his eyes so hard he thought they might get stuck.

“Gods, you’re so annoying. Go back to your cabin before I regret saying anything.” Even as he teased him, though, Nico couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach as he met Will’s gaze. 

Will's smile softened into something gentler, and he squeezed Nico's hand before letting it go. He called something about seeing him tomorrow over his shoulder as he left. Nico waved back before heading inside, wondering how in Olympus he was supposed to tell his friends.

(For the record, he insisted that he had been the one to ask Will out when he told them regardless of what Will said. He knew he was right, anyway.)

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u liked this its the only thing ive written that isnt essays in the last like year. if u did pls feel free to leave kudos/comments!


End file.
